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I possess some thoughts about that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {